Into the Light
by Lyta Padfoot
Summary: [One shot] Remus Lupin tries to overcome his forebodings on the train ride to Hogwarts.


This fic has been doused in lawyer repellant. I own none of the wonderful characters, except for Mrs. Lupin's name. 

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Into the Light 

Bright September sunshine streamed in through the sparkling clean windows and made puddles of light on the floor. All around him, Remus Lupin could hear people chattering excitedly, yet he found himself strangely removed from their joy. Maybe it was just the familiar exhaustion that always followed the full moon. 

"Remus?" His mother's voice called to him from the platform. He walked over to the open door and mustered a confident smile for her. He knew she saw through it, but it made her seem less anxious anyway. 

"Yes Mom?" 

"You'll remember what we discussed?" She asked in a worried tone. Remus knew that she always worried about him, but her concern had increased rather than lessened as he grew older. With most mothers the cause was the recent hike in the murder rate thanks to a new dark wizard whose name was seldom spoken, and then only in whispers. While Magena Lupin was troubled by this, the actual cause of her anxiety could be traced to a report published last week in the _Daily Prophet_ about a werewolf slaying…when the said werewolf was still in human form during the new moon. 

He nodded vigorously. "Yes." 

"Send me an owl when you get settled in. I want to know what house you are placed into." 

"I promise." 

"One last thing: I love you and take care." 

"I know." 

To anyone else it sounded like a perfectly mundane exchange between a parent and child on his way to school for the first time, but Remus knew his mother was imploring him not to take chances with his condition. The results of any carelessness could be fatal to others, and to himself. Ever since he had received the bite his family had tried to shield him from the attitude of the wizarding community, but just how hated and feared werewolves really were was made abundantly clear when Remus had stumbled across a copy of the werewolf killing story. Even two weeks later he shivered at the memory of what he had read. Remus had once had the misfortune to be nicked by a piece of his grandmother's prized silver dinner service and he been in horrible pain for hours, the thought of what a silver knife blade wielded against him… 

Remus shivered involuntarily despite the unseasonable warmth of the day and sank into an empty seat, grateful that this car was vacant aside from himself. He was still tired from his transformation, but also thrilled to be going to Hogwarts. His brother Romulus had gone before him and Remus had spent years wistfully listening to his brother's tales, never once allowing himself to dream that he would actually be permitted to attend. 

The train started to move and Remus closed his eyes. The motion of trains and cars always made it difficult for him to keep his eyes open, especially so soon after the full moon. 

Sometime later the slamming of a door jarred him awake. He blearily opened his eyes to see a boy with messy black hair laughing hysterically as another boy with greasy hair with a nose shaped like a beak scowled at him. 

"That wasn't funny!" The greasy haired boy shouted. 

This only caused the other boy to laugh even harder. He was shaking so hard his glasses were in danger of falling off his face. 

"I'm warning you Potter, messing with me is not a good idea." 

"You should have seen the look on your face!" Potter managed to gasp out between bursts of laughter. 

"We'll see just who has the last laugh." The other boy said in what he obviously intended to be a threatening tone as he stormed out of the car. 

The messy haired boy recovered himself after a few minutes. 

"Do you mind if I sit here?" 

"Go ahead." Remus said. 

"Thanks. I'm James Potter by the way." 

"Remus Lupin." 

"What house you want to get into?" 

"Gryffindor." Remus said. 

James eyes lit up as he smiled broadly. "Me too!" 

"Let's hope we both have our wishes. What was that about?" Remus asked indicating 

the door the other boy had stormed through only moments earlier. 

"Oh Snape. Well, my friend Sirius played a bit of a prank on him. As you can see he did not take it all that well." 

"Oh?" Remus inquired. 

As James launched into a detailed description of the event, another boy burst into the car. From James' story and the jubilant smile on his face, Remus knew him at once the boy had to be Sirius Black. 

"Hi, Sirius." James said waving him over. "Remus Lupin, meet Sirius Black." 

Sirius smiled mischievously as he held out his hand. "I'm not, though." 

"Not what?" Remus asked as he shook Sirius's hand. 

"Serious." 

James and Remus groaned. 

"Remus wants to be in Gryffindor too." James told Sirius. 

"Really? That's great!" 

Remus had never really had friends before. His family had withdrawn from most socializing and moved to a remote house after he was bitten where the number of people in danger during his transformations was never more than three. His mother had taught him at home since in the tiny local school his secret would quickly have been ferreted out and other parents would not have wanted their children from associating with him. In spite of such a bleak history with regard to friendships, Remus had a feeling that he had just gained two friends. As long as he could hide his condition from them everything would be fine. If it ever was found out that he was a werewolf…well the results might be very nasty. 

But at that moment, the Daily Prophet article and his mother's fears seemed as dangerous as a dandelion. Still, Remus reminded himself, nobody really wanted werewolves about and he could understand why. Ever since he recieved the bite his condition had driven his life. Every activity was planned around it and his family took preparations for the full moon very seriously.

But at this moment, in the company of two boys he was sure would be his friends and with the bright September sun chasing away all but the barest hints of shadows, he felt like an ordinary wizard. 

FIN 


End file.
